Megadeth: “Unplugged In Boston” (2021) CD Review

In October on our way to Fenway Park to watch the Red Sox lose to the Astros, my brother and I passed a venue called Bill’s Bar, and I couldn’t believe how small it was. Megadeth played there? Really? But, yes, on May 9, 2001, Megadeth played a stripped down show to a small but eager crowd at Bill’s Bar in Boston, just a few blocks from Fenway. The band had left Capitol Records the year before, and was promoting its first album on its new label, Sanctuary Records. That album, The World Needs A Hero, featured a new guitarist, Al Pitrelli, and would be the only studio album to feature his work. That album was also the last studio album to feature original bassist David Ellefson until his return in 2010, as well as the last studio album to feature Jimmy DeGrasso on drums. So it was something of a transitional period for the band when they took the stage at Bill’s Bar. The set they played that night has now been officially released as Unplugged In Boston., with the song choices focused mostly on the new album and their late 1990s output. The sound is fairly good, but there does seem to be some static, which is noticeable at certain moments, such as at the beginning of “Holy Wars…The Punishment Due.”

They open the set with “Dread And The Fugitive Mind,” a track from The World Needs A Hero. It’s a good choice for opener, as its first line is “Let me introduce myself.” And check out these lyrics: “You built walls to protect you/So no one will infect you/Pursued by those out there/That vanish in thin air.” And I appreciate the Shakespeare reference in that last line (in The Tempest, Prospero says, “These our actors/As I foretold you, were all spirits and/Are melted into air, into thin air”). I also like the raw, powerful acoustic sound, and there is some good guitar work toward the end. “See if you recognize this song,” they tell the audience as they begin “Trust,” a song from the band’s 1997 album Cryptic Writings. This is the first of four songs from that album that they play during the set, making it the most represented album at this show, even more than the new record they were promoting.

Then, from Risk, the band’s final album on Capitol, they choose “Time: The Beginning,” a mellower tune. As I get older, this song’s lyrics stand out for me: “Life is just a speck in space/Dreams of an eternal resting place/I can't get any younger/Time has brutal hunger/Time taking time, it's taken mine.” Pretty good lines, eh? There is just the shortest of pauses before they launch into “Use The Man,” which tackles the serious subject of drug addiction. This song, from Cryptic Writings, kicks in and seriously rocks during the chorus: “I’ve seen the man use the needle, seen the needle use the man.” The band doesn’t pause before going into a shortened version of “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due,” the opening track from Rust In Peace. The audience is clearly thrilled to hear this one, and the energy is so strong here that you kind of forget that it is sort of an acoustic set. The original album version is approximately six and a half minutes, while here it is approximately two and a half. They begin this rendition with the line “Wage the war on organized crime,” which comes like halfway through the original recording. Then, moments after the line “No more mistakes,” suddenly they go into “Almost Honest,” another song from Cryptic Writings. I admit this is a band I don’t listen to all that much, but I was surprised that they went straight from one song into another, like jam bands are known to do. This is a good, solid rock tune.

After “Almost Honest,” we can hear folks in the crowd shouting out stuff, and there is some stage banter, including a thank you to WAAF, the radio station that sponsored the show. Apparently, fans got their tickets from the station, and this show was broadcast live on the radio. After Dave Mustaine says he’ll try to refrain from swearing because of the live broadcast, he ends up telling someone in the crowd, “Shut up, fucker.” This is another point when the static is most noticeable. The band then returns to material from the new album, playing “Promises,” a slower tune that works particularly well in the acoustic setting. “I will meet you in the next life, I promise you.” The lines I especially like are: “And I come from a town where they drag your hopes through the mud/Because their own dreams are all dying.” This track also features some good work on guitar. Then when they begin “She-Wolf,” the crowd reacts excitedly, and the band actually stops for a moment, saying “Remember this one?” This is another song from Cryptic Writings, and it is one of the highlights of the set, moving at a good pace. It is a lot of fun, including its lyrics. Here is a taste: “Wicked temptress knows how to please/Priestess roars, ‘Get down on your knees’/The rites of the praying mantis/Kiss the bones of the enchantress.”

The last of the songs from the new album that night was “Moto Psycho,” another fun one, and another of the set’s highlights. There is a brief introduction to this song: “Let me make something really clear to you. This is not about motorcycles. This is about being a psycho on anything that has a motor.” The band concludes its set with “Symphony Of Destruction,” a song from the group’s 1992 album Countdown To Extinction, and one that was also released as a single and became one of the group’s most popular songs. As they are beginning it, someone speaks about how special this show is. I assume it’s someone who works for WAAF. She also tells the crowd that they’ll get a chance to meet the band after the show. This song seems to speak even more strongly to us now, as the country continues to deal with the influence of Trump on a large segment of the population. “Just like the pied piper/Led rats through the streets/We dance like marionettes/Swaying to the symphony of destruction.”

CD Track List

1. Dread And The Fugitive Mind
2. Trust
3. Time: The Beginning
4. Use The Man
5. Holy Wars… The Punishment Due
6. Almost Honest
7. Promises
8. She-Wolf
9. Moto Psycho
10. Symphony Of Destruction

Unplugged In Boston was released on August 20, 2021 on Cleopatra Records.